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Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain, Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Knockhill, rounds eleven and twelve – free practice, Training 1
Harper, Vaughan and Dockerill make a swift start in Scotland

The Carrera Cup GB field made a flying start to the weekend in Friday’s practice sessions at Knockhill – the top 10 drivers were covered by just 0.874s in the day’s combined times. Topping the list was 17-year-old Porsche GB 2018 / 2019 Junior Dan Harper (JTR), the only driver to lap the undulating Scottish circuit in under 49 seconds.

Harper became embroiled in a thrilling Pro category battle with current championship leader Dino Zamparelli (Redline Racing) for the fastest overall lap time of the day. The pair traded quick times in the afternoon session, they were ultimately separated by just 0.176s. At the end of the two Friday sessions the entire Pro category grid were covered by 0.362s – all of the Pro drivers recorded times faster than the official lap record set by Michael Meadows in 2014 (49.979).

In the Pro-Am category the competition was equally close with less than one second covering all of the category runners. In the combined times Dan Vaughan (Motorbase Performance) came out on top, the Rookie’s best time was just 0.077s quicker than the chasing Jamie Orton (JTR) – an equally hard-charging Seb Perez (Amigos Team Parker) finished third in category. Iain Dockerill (Asset Advantage Racing) showed good form finishing Friday ahead of Am category title contenders Peter Kyle-Henney (IN2 Racing) and Peter Mangion (Team Parker Racing) – just 0.039s covered all three drivers.
Session 1 – 11:20 to 12:05
Track temperature: 20.0 degrees

• Of the Pro category runners the first driver to take to the dry track was Tom Wrigley (JTR), Dan Vaughan (Motorbase Performance) was the first Pro-Am driver, Peter Kyle-Henney (IN2 Racing) Am
• Early into the session Wrigley and team mate Lewis Plato (JTR) swapped fastest lap times with 17-year-old Porsche GB 2018 / 2019 Junior Dan Harper (JTR)
• Vaughan set the pace in the Pro-Am category from Seb Perez (Amigos Team Parker) and Esmee Hawkey (GT Marques)
• Kyle-Henney led close championship rival Peter Mangion (Team Parker Racing) from Iain Dockerill (Asset Advantage Racing) in Am
• Plato and Harper set an identical time at the top of the time sheets – 49.384, with Wrigley trailing in P3 just 0.175s behind
• Dockerill first jumped Mangion for P2 in Am before leaping Kyle-Henney to head the category
• With just over 15 minutes of FP1 completed the session was red flagged to recover the car of Harper, he returned to the pits to continue his session
• When the green flag was flown Mangion improved to P2 in Am behind Kyle-Henney but ahead of Dockerill – Dockerill soon moved ahead of both
• In Pro-Am Jamie Orton (JTR) set the fastest category time to head Vaughan and Perez
• At the top of the time sheet Wrigley moved into P1, Ellinas could not quite match him setting a time 0.007s slower for P2 – Plato lapped 0.102s slower than Wrigley’s fastest time for P3
• With just over 25 minutes of FP1 complete, the red flag was shown again to recover the car of Ellinas from an off – he would take no further part in the session
• At 11:55 the session was restarted, Dino Zamparelli (Redline Racing) soon set the fastest overall lap time of 49.235 – just 0.074s covered the top four of Zamparelli, Wrigley, Ellinas and Harper
• Mangion improved to lead the Am category, the order now being: Mangion, Dockerill, Kyle-Henney
• With less than 10 minutes of the session remaining a third red flag period occurred to recover the car of Am category Rookie Steve Gales (Welch Motorsport)
• With just four minutes of the session remaining several cars took to the track but there were no further improvements due to rain beginning to fall
• Pro: Zamparelli, Wrigley (+0.047), Ellinas (+0.054)
• Pro-Am: Orton, Vaughan (+0.326), Perez (+0.339)
• Am: Dockerill, Mangion (+0.039), Kyle-Henney (+0.206)

Session 2 – 15:25 to 16:10
Track temperature: 21.7 degrees

• First out onto a dry track for the afternoon session in their respective categories were: Pro – Tom Wrigley (JTR), Pro-Am – Dan Vaughan (Motorbase Performance), Am – Steve Gales (Welch Motorsport)
• Dino Zamparelli (Redline Racing), Lewis Plato (JTR) and Wrigley trade times early on at the top of the time sheet – all three lapping in under 50secs
• Of the Pro-Am drivers Vaughan is initially quickest with Seb Perez (Amigos Team Parker) and Esmee Hawkey (GT Marques) chasing in P2 and P3 respectively
• In Am Iain Dockerill (Asset Advantage Racing) continues his good form from the morning session heading Peter Kyle-Henney (IN2 Racing) and Fraser Robertson (Redline Racing)
• A short reg flag period brings all competitors into the pit lane, the session restarts with less than 35 minutes remaining
• Jamie Orton (JTR) takes the lead in Pro-Am with Perez in P2 and Vaughan in P3 – Vaughan soon posts a time good enough for P1 in category, P2 overall
• In the Pro category 17-year-old Porsche GB 2018 / 2019 Junior Dan Harper (JTR) records the fastest overall time – the entire Pro category field is covered by just 0.487s
• In Am Peter Mangion (Team Parker Racing) moves into P3 behind Dockerill and category leader Kyle-Henney
• Zamparelli and Harper trade fastest times over a number of laps, Harper eventually coming out on top lapping in 48.827 – the only runner to set a time under 49secs – behind the pair, other Pro drivers improve
• With less than five minutes of FP2 remaining a red flag is shown which is soon replaced by the chequered flag ending a closely contested session
• Pro: Harper, Zamparelli (+0.176), Gamble (+0.191)
• Pro-Am: Vaughan, Orton (+0.187), Perez (+0.354)
• Am: Kyle-Henney, Mangion (+0.109), Dockerill (+0.298)
Qualifying for round eleven will take place tomorrow between 14:20 and 15:10, with drivers fighting for the two points awarded in 2018 for the fastest time posted in each category over the course of the session. Follow the battle on Twitter via @CarreraCupGB.